Coffee with Mark

Date Occurred: 13 0822 -13 0903 As a Minnesota Renewable Energy Society (MRES) member and volunteer solar design expert, I answered fair goer questions on renewable solar photovoltaic (PV) energy for 5 days. It was extremely hot at the fair that summer and the most common question was "How much solar would it take to cover my huge air conditioning bill?" Unfortunately, the answer from myself and all the other solar design firms was it would cost too much. We all agreed the first thing to do was improve the energy efficiency of their homes and then add solar to cover all their energy needs. PV is still a great investment to offset some of your energy needs and to reduce the need to burn coal and gas in Minnesota. Minnesota is a great place to provide renewable solar, even in winter. While PV benefits from long days in the summer to gather a lot of solar energy, they work more efficiently in cold weather, taking advantage of all the clear cold days to create electricity. Visit MRES at https://www.mnrenewables.org

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Mark Anderson, AIA, CPHC

For my day job, I'm an architect focused on green design. Not a bad gig! Caring for the planet is a theme throughout my life. This page is where I like to talk about how that love for the earth plays out – in architecture and in my life.